The 1960s & 70s

Ordered to the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964, Bon Homme Richard completed six combat deployments, more than any other carrier in the fleet. She cycled through three air wings: CVW-19 on the early cruises, CVW-21 through the middle deployments, and CVW-5 on the final three. This is by far the largest part of the collection, partly because more of her crew carried cameras by then.

The 1967 cruise with Air Wing 21 made the record books. On 1 May 1967 over Kep Airfield, Lt. Cdr. Ted Swartz of VA-76 became the first Navy pilot to down a MiG from an attack aircraft, using unguided Zuni rockets from an A-4C Skyhawk. Several photographs here carry first-hand accounts written by the men who flew that deployment, describing what the picture shows and what happened next. She was decommissioned in July 1971.